Will I-26 plan finally come to fruition?

Published: Sunday, February 3, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 1, 2013 at 6:35 p.m.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from the state’s decades of delay in improving Interstate 26, it might be this: Poor planning and pork-barrel politics are more costly in the long run than doing the job right the first time.

We should probably be celebrating news that the N.C. Department of Transportation has finally restarted planning on this project after it was stalled 10 years ago. The DOT held an “informational workshop” Thursday to gauge public interest on a proposal to widen I-26 to six lanes as part of a major refurbishment. Most among the more than 160 people who showed up expressed support for the idea.

It may not be time to pop the champagne just yet, though. The first phase of construction may not begin until fiscal year 2019-20, with the final phase earmarked for startup in 2030, if all goes well, DOT says. Given this project’s checkered past, there’s little reason to bank on this schedule.

It all started years ago, when Hendersonville business leaders dreamed that the way to boost development was to get the DOT to build a new interchange at Clear Creek Road and I-26, and a road to connect it to U.S. 25 and N.C. 191. The “Clear Creek Connector” was a product of a time when five-lane highways were considered a swell way to spur development. It was also about that time that people began to call such automobile-centric development by a different name: sprawl.

While our business leaders thought the Clear Creek Connector was a great idea, the public was split, with many residents adamantly opposed to the idea. They feared this new entranceway would turn into another congested commercial strip like Four Seasons Boulevard. Homeowners in the subdivisions on N.C. 191, fearing that road would become the next commercial strip, opposed the Clear Creek Connector. So did medical professionals in the Beverly Hanks Centre, which would have been razed along with a corner of Patton Park.

Wait, weren’t we talking about I-26? What’s the connection? When the DOT bowed to public outrage and dropped the Clear Creek Connector from its Transportation Improvement Program, local leaders and DOT engineers came up with an idea to try to keep the millions earmarked for the doomed connector in Henderson County: Widen I-26 to six lanes.

It seemed like a good idea. The interstate would get a long overdue refurbishing and new lanes to speed the flow of traffic, with minimal impact on property owners. But there was a hitch. A big one.

The DOT created plans to construct the new widened I-26 in Henderson County but had done little planning for the next section to the north in Buncombe County, despite the soon-to-open extension of the interstate into Tennessee. Opponents argued that it made little sense to have a six-lane interstate in Henderson County feeding into a four-lane bottleneck in Buncombe County. But widening that section presented a much more complex problem involving replacing the Blue Ridge Parkway overpass as well as the interstate bridge over the French Broad River.

Environmentalists charged that the DOT had wrongly separated the two projects for planning purposes without adequately studying drawbacks such as vehicle pollution and sprawl. The plan was halted in 2003 when U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle agreed and ruled that the DOT had to study the overall environmental impact of widening the interstate in both counties.

Now, a decade later, the DOT is moving ahead with that plan. The projected cost is $264 million to widen 22.2 miles from the U.S. 25 South Connector to I-40. The DOT estimates that 45,000 to 80,000 cars travel this part of I-26, with higher counts during tourist season. Heavy traffic often leads to snarled traffic, a situation one resident at Thursday’s meeting aptly described as a “rolling parking lot.”

It is good news that the DOT is finally getting this project rolling again, seeking public input and looking at “all of the influences to impacts along the corridor,” as stated by Undrea Major, project development engineer. He says the state wants to “do the proper investigation, start the dialogue and keep the communication going so we make informed decisions.”

<p>If there’s a lesson to be learned from the state’s decades of delay in improving Interstate 26, it might be this: Poor planning and pork-barrel politics are more costly in the long run than doing the job right the first time.</p><p>We should probably be celebrating news that the N.C. Department of Transportation has finally restarted planning on this project after it was stalled 10 years ago. The DOT held an informational workshop Thursday to gauge public interest on a proposal to widen I-26 to six lanes as part of a major refurbishment. Most among the more than 160 people who showed up expressed support for the idea.</p><p>It may not be time to pop the champagne just yet, though. The first phase of construction may not begin until fiscal year 2019-20, with the final phase earmarked for startup in 2030, if all goes well, DOT says. Given this project’s checkered past, there’s little reason to bank on this schedule.</p><p>It all started years ago, when Hendersonville business leaders dreamed that the way to boost development was to get the DOT to build a new interchange at Clear Creek Road and I-26, and a road to connect it to U.S. 25 and N.C. 191. The Clear Creek Connector was a product of a time when five-lane highways were considered a swell way to spur development. It was also about that time that people began to call such automobile-centric development by a different name: sprawl.</p><p>While our business leaders thought the Clear Creek Connector was a great idea, the public was split, with many residents adamantly opposed to the idea. They feared this new entranceway would turn into another congested commercial strip like Four Seasons Boulevard. Homeowners in the subdivisions on N.C. 191, fearing that road would become the next commercial strip, opposed the Clear Creek Connector. So did medical professionals in the Beverly Hanks Centre, which would have been razed along with a corner of Patton Park.</p><p>Wait, weren’t we talking about I-26? What’s the connection? When the DOT bowed to public outrage and dropped the Clear Creek Connector from its Transportation Improvement Program, local leaders and DOT engineers came up with an idea to try to keep the millions earmarked for the doomed connector in Henderson County: Widen I-26 to six lanes.</p><p>It seemed like a good idea. The interstate would get a long overdue refurbishing and new lanes to speed the flow of traffic, with minimal impact on property owners. But there was a hitch. A big one.</p><p>The DOT created plans to construct the new widened I-26 in Henderson County but had done little planning for the next section to the north in Buncombe County, despite the soon-to-open extension of the interstate into Tennessee. Opponents argued that it made little sense to have a six-lane interstate in Henderson County feeding into a four-lane bottleneck in Buncombe County. But widening that section presented a much more complex problem involving replacing the Blue Ridge Parkway overpass as well as the interstate bridge over the French Broad River.</p><p>Environmentalists charged that the DOT had wrongly separated the two projects for planning purposes without adequately studying drawbacks such as vehicle pollution and sprawl. The plan was halted in 2003 when U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle agreed and ruled that the DOT had to study the overall environmental impact of widening the interstate in both counties.</p><p>Now, a decade later, the DOT is moving ahead with that plan. The projected cost is $264 million to widen 22.2 miles from the U.S. 25 South Connector to I-40. The DOT estimates that 45,000 to 80,000 cars travel this part of I-26, with higher counts during tourist season. Heavy traffic often leads to snarled traffic, a situation one resident at Thursday’s meeting aptly described as a rolling parking lot.</p><p>It is good news that the DOT is finally getting this project rolling again, seeking public input and looking at all of the influences to impacts along the corridor, as stated by Undrea Major, project development engineer. He says the state wants to do the proper investigation, start the dialogue and keep the communication going so we make informed decisions.</p><p>To which we can only add: better late than never.</p>